French seed group says GMO protests could force R&D relocation

Vilmorin & Cie SA

16/01/2018 17:06

PARIS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Limagrain, the world's 
fourth-largest seed maker, will consider moving its research 
activities out of France if field trials in its home market 
continue to be sabotaged by opponents of genetically modified 
crops. 
    The French cooperative group was targeted last month by 
protestors who invaded test fields southeast of Paris and 
scattered non-commercial seed. That was the latest in a series 
of actions by opponents of gene-editing technology, which they 
say will herald a new generation of genetically modified 
organisms (GMOs). 
    Limagrain said the incident ruined a 37-hectare trial of 
wheat based on conventional breeding and showed the risk of a 
repeat of virulent debate over GMOs. 
    "If we have repetition of this kind of problem, I will be 
the first to say that we should relocate our research and not 
conduct it in France," Jean-Yves Foucault, Limagrain president 
and one of the farmers who own the cooperative group, told 
reporters. 
    Limagrain, which is a major seed maker through listed 
subsidiary Vilmorin  VILM.PA , previously stopped performing GMO 
field trials in France, where commercial growing of such crops 
is banned. 
    The emergence of new breeding techniques has reignited 
debate over genetic modification in Europe. 
    So-called gene-editing has been hailed by researchers as a 
revolutionary tool but has led to fierce arguments over whether 
gene-edited crops should be treated as GMOs.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1DN2QW 
    Crop developers say such crops should not fall under the 
European Union's strict GMO rules because the new technology 
does not involve the transfer of genes from different species. 
Critics, meanwhile, say they are GMOs by another name. 
    The EU has yet to decide how to classify the new techniques. 
    On Thursday the adviser to the European Court of Justice is 
due to issue an opinion over whether a breeding method called 
mutagenesis should fall under GMO regulations. 
    This would give an indication of the likely ruling to be 
given by the court in the coming months, which will in turn 
influence subsequent EU rules on gene-editing. 
     
     
 
 (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Additional reporting by Alissa de 
Carbonnel in Brussels; Editing by David Goodman) 
 ((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters 
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: FRANCE LIMAGRAIN/GMO